Car Nack Predicts 2011-5

[Bob Steele]

Does anyone know whether this will be a penalty other than disabling the tower?

I do mean during the last 10 seconds... not during the rest of the match...

I would like some opinions as I believe there is a penalty for deploying the minibot anywhere other than the alliance poles...

Ideas? Comments?

[BJT]

I would also be willing to bet that a fair number of minibots fall off their hostbots during the match, and that will most likely not end well.

[Koko Ed]

Originally Posted by BJT

I would also be willing to bet that a fair number of minibots fall off their hostbots during the match, and that will most likely not end well.

That will definately put the little guys in danger.

[dotbran]

To prevent your minibot from falling off the top of the pole, stick a magnet on the top.

This is legal, right?

[Chris is me]

Originally Posted by dotbran

To prevent your minibot from falling off the top of the pole, stick a magnet on the top.

This is legal, right?

Yes, except the top of the tower is nonmetallic.

[Joe Schornak]

I predict that at least one minibot will find its way entirely outside of the field perimeter, by some horrible miracle of overenthusiastic deployment methods and high-speed gear ratios.

[gyroscopeRaptor]

In the first non-practice Suffield Shakedown match, a minibot fell off, almost over the railing, and was likely running.

Fastest prediction ever?

[StevenB]

Originally Posted by Koko Ed

I expect to see lots of swings and misses at the pole and the occaional mini-bot fatlity at the hands of a Hostbot. I think of the fate that poor little runner bot 1519 had at Beantown Blitz when I visualize this.

I think you jinxed us. Final match 3 at the Nashua, NH scrimmage - watch the left side of the field after 54 seconds - the 1519 minibot gets run over by at least two HOSTBOTs.

[bhoffman11]

I really want to see a minibot fall off, run around, and just get run-over and totaled by its own hostbot or an opposing bot. Would that be a red card?

[Chris is me]

At WPI we had a minibot fall off, run along the floor, and get 3 lane violations.

[Kimmeh]

Waterford had a running minibot on the field.

Minibot: "One day, maybe I'll grow up to be a big robot, just like my hostbot..."

[Al Skierkiewicz]

I think I can! I think I can! I think I can!

[Kims Robot]

We should use the mythbusters stamps on all of Carnack's predictions for the year!

P.S. Chris-is-me's is better - I would love to see a video of that! But I did see at least one match at FLR where the minibot fell off mid match and ran itself smack into the wall!

[Mike Soukup]

Originally Posted by Bob Steele

Does anyone know whether this will be a penalty other than disabling the tower?

I do mean during the last 10 seconds... not during the rest of the match...

I would like some opinions as I believe there is a penalty for deploying the minibot anywhere other than the alliance poles...

Ideas? Comments?

I don't know what's a penalty and what isn't with respect to improper minibot deployment; the rule is poorly written.

Originally Posted by G19

MINIBOTS must remain completely autonomous and move up the POST solely through electric energy provided after the start of DEPLOYMENT by the permitted, unaltered battery and converted to mechanical energy by the permitted unaltered motors (and associated, appropriate circuitry).
Violation: The TOWER on which the MINIBOT is DEPLOYED is disabled. If the MINIBOT is DEPLOYED on something other than a TOWER, then the ALLIANCE’S TOWER upon which the highest RACE SCORE was earned will be discounted.

Originally Posted by DEPLOY

DEPLOYMENT – the act of positioning a MINIBOT on a TOWER. DEPLOYMENT starts when the MINIBOT breaks the vertical projection of the TOWER BASE circumference. DEPLOYMENT ends when the HOSTBOT is no longer in contact with the MINIBOT. (Related form, DEPLOY, verb)

I don't know how a minibot can be deployed on something other than the tower since the definition of deployment includes the tower base, so I don't know how an alliance's tower can be disabled due to improper deployment. If your minibot falls off the pole, it has not deployed on something else, because you can only deploy on a tower. If your minibot falls off during the match and lands off the ground, it did not deploy on something other than the tower because it never crossed the vertical projection of the tower base circumference.

The intent of the rules may be to penalize those actions, but it's not what the rules say.

[pfreivald]

I'm thinking it's a really good idea to engineer your DEPLOYMENT mechanism (and likely your MINIBOT as well) such that it CAN'T fall out of your HOSTBOT...